https://www.reportdoor.com/richard-bland-has-spiced-up-u-s-open-leaderboard/
<header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px; max-width: 810px; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 15px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Richard Bland has spiced up U.S. Open leaderboard
June 19, 2021
5 Min Read
</header>
SAN DIEGO — There’s nothing bland about this story — other than the subject’s name.
If you had 48-year-old Englishman Richard Bland in your U.S. Open betting pool as being tied for the 36-hole lead with Russell Henley this week at Torrey Pines, take a bow.
Bland’s performance has continued the rough go of late for Father Time, who’s well over par in his last few rounds.
If you thought Phil Mickelson winning the PGA Championship last month at Kiawah Island just weeks before his 51st birthday to become the oldest player to win a major championship was a remarkable story, a U.S. Open triumph by Bland would top even that on the things-you-never-expected meter.
This is Bland’s fourth career start in a major championship and each one has been in a different decade. He’s played only once in America, at the 2009 U.S Open at Bethpage Black, where he missed the cut.
He’s in the field this week by virtue of his win at the British Masters last month, his first career European Tour victory that ended a drought of 477 starts without hoisting hardware.
“To have the lead is pretty special,’’ Bland said after shooting a 4-under 67 to get to 5-under for the tournament. “I was tied for the lead at the 2017 [British] Open for a hole, so it’s nice to have it a bit longer than that.’’
Bland’s win at the British Masters was one of the most popular in the sport in recent memory based on how long he’d worked to finally cross the finish line first and based on his dogged perseverance after losing his tour card a couple of times.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 14.336000442504883px;"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="682" alt="Richard Bland" class="wp-image-18575220 ls-is-cached lazyloaded" srcset="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210618bland.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=300 300w, <a href=" https:=" target=" _blank"="">Richard Bland<figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 1em;">AP</figcaption></figure>At age 46, Bland became the oldest player ever to graduate from the Challenge Tour to the European Tour.
So, he was understandably emotional after his win, raw emotion that elicited reaction from all around the sport.
“Today I saw something that inspired me and reminded me of why golf is the greatest game. Congrats @blandy73 on the first and wishing you many more!’’ Fred Couples tweeted.
<header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 25px; max-width: 810px; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 15px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Richard Bland has spiced up U.S. Open leaderboard
June 19, 2021
5 Min Read
</header>
SAN DIEGO — There’s nothing bland about this story — other than the subject’s name.
If you had 48-year-old Englishman Richard Bland in your U.S. Open betting pool as being tied for the 36-hole lead with Russell Henley this week at Torrey Pines, take a bow.
Bland’s performance has continued the rough go of late for Father Time, who’s well over par in his last few rounds.
If you thought Phil Mickelson winning the PGA Championship last month at Kiawah Island just weeks before his 51st birthday to become the oldest player to win a major championship was a remarkable story, a U.S. Open triumph by Bland would top even that on the things-you-never-expected meter.
This is Bland’s fourth career start in a major championship and each one has been in a different decade. He’s played only once in America, at the 2009 U.S Open at Bethpage Black, where he missed the cut.
He’s in the field this week by virtue of his win at the British Masters last month, his first career European Tour victory that ended a drought of 477 starts without hoisting hardware.
“To have the lead is pretty special,’’ Bland said after shooting a 4-under 67 to get to 5-under for the tournament. “I was tied for the lead at the 2017 [British] Open for a hole, so it’s nice to have it a bit longer than that.’’
Bland’s win at the British Masters was one of the most popular in the sport in recent memory based on how long he’d worked to finally cross the finish line first and based on his dogged perseverance after losing his tour card a couple of times.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 14.336000442504883px;"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="682" alt="Richard Bland" class="wp-image-18575220 ls-is-cached lazyloaded" srcset="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210618bland.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=300 300w, <a href=" https:=" target=" _blank"="">Richard Bland<figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 1em;">AP</figcaption></figure>At age 46, Bland became the oldest player ever to graduate from the Challenge Tour to the European Tour.
So, he was understandably emotional after his win, raw emotion that elicited reaction from all around the sport.
“Today I saw something that inspired me and reminded me of why golf is the greatest game. Congrats @blandy73 on the first and wishing you many more!’’ Fred Couples tweeted.
!/
